1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of computer systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of device configuration for computer systems.
2. Description of Related Art
A typical personal computer (PC) system implements one or more standardized buses to enable one or more peripheral components to communicate with a processor and/or a main memory, for example, in the computer system. A standardized bus with expansion slots allows for the use of any one or more of a variety of plug-in peripheral components in the computer system. Exemplary standardized buses include an industry standard architecture (ISA) bus which supports an 8-bit or 16-bit data path at 8 MegaHertz (MHz) and an Extended ISA (EISA) bus which supports a 32-bit data path at 8 MHz with bus mastering.
A peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus has also been developed. The PCI bus supports 32-bit and 64-bit data paths at 33 or 66 MHz and bus mastering and therefore provides a higher speed data path between peripheral components on the PCI bus and a processor. The PCI bus also supports plug and play (PnP) capability for automatic configuration of plug-in peripheral components on the PCI bus. Typically, the computer system provides PnP capability with suitable programming in its basic input/output system (BIOS) and/or operating system (OS) software.
A configuration access request packet is transmitted from a first hub agent onto a hub interface. The configuration access request packet comprises an address formatted in accordance with a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) specification. The configuration access request packet is received from the hub interface by a second hub agent.